Ed Stourton is spared thanks to Mandrake's campaign

MANDRAKE NATURALLY rejoices at the news of Ed Stourton's reprieve, but anyone who read my online petition to save the Radio 4 Today presenter – signed by 3,000 people over the course of just a few days – will know that was not all that was demanded of the BBC. The majority of those who signed also wanted the corporation to reconsider the future of another of its hirelings, the foul-mouthed Jonathan Ross.

Tim Walker

10:00PM GMT 27 Dec 2008

Andrew Sachs, the much-loved Fawlty Towers actor who was the victim of the obscene telephone calls from Ross which resulted in the presenter being suspended, said he could not understand the "mindset" of the senior executives at the BBC. "I listen to the Today programme and I really enjoy the measured tone of Mr Stourton," Sachs, 78, told me.

"I've always thought how articulate and clever he is. And yet the powers-that-be at the corporation tried to get rid of this man after making it clear that Ross could return. The BBC really does make some strange decisions, doesn't it? I think it's a great thing that people got behind Mr Stourton. He represents what is good about the BBC. Ross represents what is not so good."

One of the signatories to my petition described the BBC's decision to get rid of Stourton, coming so soon after they had elected to give Ross a reprieve, as "the corporation's 'We want Barabbas' moment."